PBIS inside classrooms needs an abundant amount of preventatives, and responsive

approaches to effectively support individual students, and as a class whole. “Classroom PBIS
strategies are important tools to decrease disruptions, increase instructional time, and improve
student social behavior and academic outcomes, which is critical as schools are held to greater
accountability for student outcomes and teacher effectiveness.”
(https://www.pbis.org/school/pbis-in-the-classroom) Expectations should be well taught, and
having an instructional guideline to follow when students decide not to behave with those set
expectations, is going to benefit everyone in the situation greatly. It all comes down to being
prepared with strategies and techniques for when a situation arises inside your classroom.
Teachers need to be proactive from the beginning of the school year, and have interventions and
supports already in line. This may include other teachers throughout the school that are called
school-wide positive behavioral interventions and supports teams.

Questions for teachers to consider:

Primary Level Prevention:

 What is Primary Prevention?

Primary Prevention involves school-wide efforts to prevent misbehaviors. It’s developed
and taught by teachers and school staff that offer a supportive guideline of rules,
routines, and physical arrangements to prevent initial occurrence of problem behavior.
 Examples of Primary Support Strategies:
o Administrative leadership
o Team-based implementation
o Defined and prominently posted behavior expectations (an example is a matrix of
what it looks like and means to come prepared or to show self-control.)
o Teaching of behavioral expectations (such as “Be Safe, Be Responsible, Be
Respectful”)
o Acknowledgment and positive reinforcement of appropriate behavior (for
example, “Thank you for walking rather than running through the hallway.”)
o Monitoring and correcting behavior errors (for example, ask a student, “What is
the school expectation about cafeteria behavior?”)
o Data-based decision making (examples include observations, tally sheets, school-
wide information systems [SWIS])
o Family and community collaboration (for example, inviting family and community
members to a PBIS kick-off event that the students are actively involved in, and
sending home regular updates on the progress of implementation.)

Secondary Level Prevention:

 What is Secondary Prevention?

o Secondary Prevention is the “second stage” of prevention, where students who
are not correctly responding to Primary Prevention. These Secondary Prevention
guidelines and supports are geared more towards intensive problem behaviors.
 Examples of Primary Support Strategies:
o Check, Connect, and Expect—this intervention provides for systematic and
frequent reinforcement and encouragement for positive behaviors by the staff so
that the individual receives high rates of immediate feedback.
o Mentoring—this may be done by staff or peers.
o Coaching.
o Daily progress reports.
o Self-management training—Social stories may be helpful here.
o Social Skills Club—this can benefit all students.
o Student Check In-Check Out in a feedback loop with teachers and parents.
o Ticket/token systems that serve as incentives for and recognize demonstration of
pro-social behaviors.
Tertiary Level Prevention:

 What is Tertiary Prevention?

o Tertiary Prevention is a guideline and support system that helps students that are
dangerous, highly disruptive, and/or have impede learning and result in social or
educational exclusion. PBS has been used to support the behavioral adaptation of
students (and other individuals) with a wide range of characteristics, including
developmental disabilities, autism, emotional and behavioral disorders, and even
students with no diagnostic label.
 Examples of Tertiary Support Strategies:
o What the student is doing that is problematic (observable behaviors).
o To what extent (e.g., frequency) these behaviors are occurring.
o What broad goals the team hopes to achieve through intervention.
o Review of existing records.
o Interviews of support providers.
o Direct observation of patterns, antecedents, contexts, and consequences.
o When, where, and with whom the behavior is most/least likely to occur.
o What happens following the behavior (what they get or avoid).
o Other variables that appear to be affecting the person's behavior.
o Adjustments to the environment that reduce the likelihood of problem.
o Teaching replacement skills and building general competencies.
o Consequences to promote positive behaviors and deter problems.
o A crisis management plan (if needed).